ARTIST: JJ Cale & Eric Clapton
TITLE: The Road To Escondido
LABEL: Reprise
GENRE: Rock
BITRATE: 216kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 57min total
RELEASE DATE: 2006-11-07
RIP DATE: 2006-11-02

Track List

01. Danger                          5:34
02. Heads In Georgia                4:12
03. Missing Person                  4:26
04. When This War Is Over           3:49
05. Sporting Life Blues             3:31
06. Dead End Road                   3:30
07. It's Easy                       4:19
08. Hard To Thrill                  5:11
09. Anyway The Wind Blows           3:56
10. Three Little Girls              2:45
11. Don't Cry Sister                3:10
12. Last Will And Testament         3:57
13. Who Am I Telling You?           4:08
14. Ride The River                  4:35

Release Notes:

J.J. Cale penned two of Eric Clapton's career-defining solo hits, "Cocaine"
and "After Midnight." And since Clapton has often fashioned his persona in a
WWJD manner (what would J.J. do?), this collaboration is long overdue. But
despite the rather slick production and long list of guest backing musicians
(including four bassists, four drummers, five other guitarists, and three
percussionists), The Road to Escondido is still dominated more by Cale than
Clapton. The relatively reticent Okie wrote 11 of the 14 tracks, and it's his
low-key soufflΘ of blues, jazz, and country that shapes and directs the
disc's tone, with Clapton along for the ride. The opening "Danger" sets the
dusky mood as the duo rides a typical Cale swamp groove that gives way to a
tightly wound Slowhand solo. They trade lead vocals on a lovely version of
the after-hours jazz blues classic "Sporting Life Blues," and the ubiquitous
John Mayer makes an impressive appearance on the subtle blues of "Hard to
Thrill."

Clapton hasn't sounded this relaxed or involved in his own material for years.
The traditionally laid-back, if not quite snoozy, Cale responds with a
comparatively energized performance, likely due to the high-profile company.
When the two harmonize on the mid-tempo foot tapper "Anyway the Wind Blows,"
the result is so natural and spontaneous it's a shame these two didn't join
forces earlier. On paper, it appears that Cale has the most to gain from
partnering with an established superstar, but the fact is this collaboration
yields Eric Clapton's most engaging and contagious roots-rock release in a
long time.